Arts & Life

Testing, testing HIV

It’s easy for students to go about their lives assuming they could never be affected by HIV, but taking precautions could potentially save their life or the life of another; Student Health Services recommend sexually active students get tested.

“If a person finds out he or she has a HIV virus, then the person becomes detectable, which can save another person’s life,” said Hector Medes, Salud a la Vida Mobile Facilitator. Salud a la Vida is a Cal State Long Beach-based center for Latino community health.

Being detectable means the person who is infected is responsible for the knowledge and is able to take medicine that works against the virus. Approximately 60 percent of young adults from ages 18 to 24 do not get tested or know their sexual health  status. Mendes said more than 7,800 Long Beach residents have tested positive since 2013.

“If the first test comes out positive [inside the mobile unit], then a second one is given by a different product company to verify it,” Mendes said. “I want people to look at HIV testing as a normal physical, and [know they] shouldn’t be scared to come in.”

Mendes said a person who walks into their mobile unit will get his or her finger pricked, but they will get results within one minute of testing. He believes these mobile-blood test are more accurate than physician-lab test because the test are made for one purpose. In a lab, one blood test can be used for several panels.  

There are two mobile units that offer free testing once a month on campus – Bienestar, which collaborates with Salud a La Vida to provide services, and Mobile Clinic, which is offered through the Long Beach Department of Health. Mobile Clinic uses saliva swabs to test for the virus, as opposed to Bienestar’s blood work.

“Within 20 minutes of being orally swabbed, HIV results are available to students,” Holly Boettner, campus health educator said. “HIV is a disease transmitted through fluid including blood, semon, [premature ejaculation], vaginal secretions and breast milk. On the other hand, saliva, sweat, tears and urine do not transmit the disease.”

Boettner said the Mobile Clinic has been testing students and the surrounding Long Beach community for over 10 years. It is an accurate test, but if someone tests positive, a more thorough blood test will be implemented in the Student Health Center. She said the campus and City of Long Beach act as two different communities.

“There hasn’t been an active case [on campus] since a couple years ago, [but that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t get frequently tested],” Boettner said.  “If [sexually] active, it takes two weeks to eight months from having sex for positive results.”

According to Doctors Without Borders, some people may develop flu-like symptoms within weeks, and some within years. There is no cure for HIV, but treatments are advancing to help people’s rapid declining immune systems from weakening.

Boettner said CSULB is in collaboration with the LBDH. So, if any student becomes preliminary positive, there is an “Early Intervention Program” that leads affected students to get information to doctors, health insurance and HIV education.

“Mobile Clinic will change it’s location to a heavy traffic area this semester, but students who get most tested are the ones who realize it’s after-the-fact, not the students who have sex before hand,” Boettner said.

Boettner said the test is usually $100 per swab but offered to CSULB students for free as part of tuition’s health fee. There is a drug called “Prep” to prevent HIV when taken before sexual contact, which is not offered on campus, but can be obtained through LBDH.

“We do our part to help the community, because if I can take the model I learned at Long Beach and use it in the community, I will,” said Luis Angel Cendejas, a graduate health educator for Salud a la Vida

Cendejas said Salud a la Vida caters to the second largest ethnic group in the  Long Beach community affected by HIV which are Latinos 18 to 24 years-old. African Americans are the first largest in that age bracket.

“All students, friends and family are able to be tested,” Medes said. “We work in the Long Beach community offering services for free.”

The HIV Mobile Units will be back again on Oct 13 at the HHS1 Lawn.

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